The Kindling Chronicle

By Graham John

A man was driving a lorry when it broke down. He got out of the cab to see if he could repair the lorry when a massive blast overturned it and rendered him unconscious. When he awoke, the world was on fire and he found some shelter in a partially ruined building. He remained there for some days before finally walking away to try to find other survivors.

He found a small family and helped them in their difficulties. He realised then that his future mission in life was to find more survivors and help them as much as possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398423671

Graham John

Graham John is 83 years old and has had several occupations including five years in the Royal Air Force as an engine mechanic (turbine). All other occupations have been as an engineer in one form or in another. He has written many poems and short stories, some of which are published. Graham is married with two daughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The Kindling Chronicle is the first of a series of five books already completed. He is currently writing a follow-up story, taking place some years after the initial series of books.

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About the Author

Graham John is 83 years old and has had several occupations including five years in the Royal Air Force as an engine mechanic (turbine). All other occupations have been as an engineer in one form or in another. He has written many poems and short stories, some of which are published. Graham is married with two daughters, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The Kindling Chronicle is the first of a series of five books already completed. He is currently writing a follow-up story, taking place some years after the initial series of books.

Copyright Information ©

Graham John 2023

The right of Graham John to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398422940 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398423671 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my wife, Barbara, who has proofread and

supported me throughout.

Prologue

From ‘The Apocrypha’ 11 Esdras, Chapter 16, Verses 12 to 32:

The Earth quaketh; and the foundations thereof; the sea ariseth up with the waves from the deed, and the waves of it are troubled and the fishes thereof also, before the Lord, and before the glory of His power.

For strong is His right hand that bendeth the bow. His arrows that he shooteth are sharp. And shall not miss when they begin to be shot into the ends of the world.

Behold the plagues are sent and shall not return again, until they come upon the Earth.

The fire is kindled and shall not be put out until it consumes the foundations of the Earth.

Like as an arrow which is shot by a mighty archer returning not backwards: even so the plagues that shall be set upon the Earth shall not return again.

Woe is me! Woe! Who will deliver me in these days?

The beginning of sorrows and great mournings; the beginning of famine and great dearth, the beginning of wars, and the powers shall stand in fear; the beginning of evils! What shall I do when these evils come?

Behold, famine and plague, tribulation and anguish are sent as scourges for amendment.

But for all these things, they shall not turn from their wickedness, nor be mindful of the scourges.

Behold, victuals shall be so good cheap upon the Earth, that they shall think themselves to be in good case, and even then, shall evils grow upon the Earth, sword, famine, and great confusion.

For many of them that dwell upon the Earth shall perish of famine; and the other, that escape the hunger, shall the sword destroy.

And the dead shall be cast out as dung, and there shall be no man to comfort them: for the Earth shall be wasted, and the cities shall be cast down.

There shall be no man left to till the earth and sow it.

The trees shall give fruit, and who shall gather them?

The grapes shall ripen, and who shall tread them? For all places shall be desolate of men.

So that one man shall desire to see another and to hear his voice.

For of a city, there shall be ten left. And two of the field, which shall hide themselves in the thick groves, and in the clefts of the rocks.

As in an orchard of olives, on every tree are left three or four olives.

Or as when a vineyard is gathered, there are left clusters of them that diligently seek through the vineyard.

Even so in those days, there shall be three or four left by them that search their houses with the sword.

And the Earth shall be laid waste, and the fields thereof shall wax old, and her ways and all her paths shall grow full of thorns because no man shall travel there through.

Day One

There are some days when everything goes smoothly with no crises at all. It would be fair to say that this was not one of those days for the lorry driver travelling along the road between Corby and Market Harborough at the end of a long and frustrating workday. He reached the sharp dip, which is a feature of this road, and the engine cut out.

In a vain attempt to restart the lorry, the driver coasted down the hill, letting the clutch out from time to time to bump-start the engine. There was no success and the lorry came to rest at the bottom of the dip.

The driver sat in the cab for a few minutes, trying to restart the engine before he came to the conclusion that if he was going to get home on time, he would have to find the cause of the failure and repair it. The vehicle was one of those with a lift-up cab for easy access to the engine, so he set about undoing the securing bolts. He was partially underneath when everything around him was brilliantly lit up. He blinked hard to regain his vision and stepped back in an instinctive reaction.

From his new position, he could see that his lorry was badly scorched and on fire. The next instant, the vehicle was hit by a massive blast of wind which tipped it over and extinguished the fire. The driver was, for the most part, protected by the bulk of his vehicle, even so, his overalls were torn and he was rendered unconscious for an unknown period.

When he came to, he sat for a while in a dazed stupor. Smoke and flames were all around him, and the sky was dark except for the remains of a huge fireball on top of an ominous pillar of smoke. In front of him was his lorry on its side and with badly scorched and blistered paintwork on its uppermost surface.

As his senses cleared, he thought that he had initially survived a supposed nuclear explosion, thanks mainly to the protection offered by the broken-down vehicle. His first priority was to find shelter quickly if he was to have any chance of further survival. He started walking unsteadily away, fearing that he might already be too late to avoid fallout.

You can understand that the driver was still suffering from shock and not thinking coherently. He had gone a few yards when he realised that a few tools would be useful, so he returned to the lorry and collected a selection of tools from the toolbox he had opened and now spilled in the grass. He also collected his heavy jacket which he retrieved through the broken windscreen aperture.

Before walking away, he thought about the direction to take, and he headed towards the remains of a house which had been partially protected by the same dip in which his vehicle lay. All the other houses he could see were completely demolished, and there was no sign of life anywhere. The ruins of most houses were still burning fiercely, and his choice was limited to one.

This was an older property built of stone and was still largely intact, although some of the roof was missing. Its unique position had protected it from the heat flash, and the only damage the driver could see was caused by blast. The fire flash had passed over the top, as it could only travel in a straight line. This then was the haven to which the driver directed his shaky steps.

The devastation the driver could see around him filled him with utter despair. His vehicle was not the only one in his range of vision which had been affected by the massive blast. The larger ones had been merely overturned as his had been. The drivers of those he could see had been incinerated in their seats.

The smaller vehicles had just been picked up by the wind and smashed into tangles of twisted metal with no prospect of the occupier’s survival. The tar of the road was smoking as was the remains of most of the vegetation that had not been torn from the ground by the blast. There were, however, some pockets of green showing through in the most sheltered places.

The driver realised that there was now a complete breakdown in civilisation as he had known it. Also, he suspected that most, if not all of the major centres of population would have been destroyed in the same manner as those in his immediate surroundings. The devastation must have included the city where he lived with his family, and tears were streaming down his face when he reached the house to which he was heading.

Most of the windows had been blown out, giving the driver easy access to the house. He climbed in through a ground-floor window and shouted to announce his presence.

Hearing no response to his calls, the driver ventured further into the house and began his exploration of his refuge. He discovered that the house was old and was provided with a cellar which contained most of the usual objects that these places are used for. He also found that the family who lived there had been keen on camping, and that, amongst other items, was a small picnic stove with spare canisters of gas available.

His next action was to check the rest of the house for things that would help him to survive the next few days and to move them down into the cellar. The kitchen was well stocked with food, but he realised that there was no gas, electricity or running water. There was still water in the hot water system. The lack of power meant that the freezer would no longer work, so the driver would have to use such food that the freezer contained first while it was still safe to eat.

He busied himself with items that would give him comfort he could expect under the circumstances. The items included a single bed and bedding, an easy chair and a small table, things like candles, matches and a torch. He searched the other rooms and found a number of books, amongst which was a small bible.

He included this without realising, and really in these conditions, he was able to make himself quite comfortable, at least physically. His mental comfort was a different matter.

Luckily for the driver, in the cellar was a quantity of wines he would be able to use in lieu of drinking water.

This was a luxury he did not expect, and it meant that he did not have to rely on the limited supply of water available to him.

The evening was well advanced before he finally settled himself into the cellar, and he was now able to take the time to prepare himself a substantial meal from the contents of the freezer. He ate a couple of good-sized pork chops supplemented with frozen vegetables and some potatoes he had found. He finished his meal with ice cream. This was a luxury, and he knew that he would not be able to keep up this standard for long.

It was just that he had an abundance of perishable goods which he had to use up quickly. He was able to drink wine, and of course, it was a candlelit dinner. His biggest regret was that he had no one to share it with.

He cleaned his utensils to the best of his limited ability. He had to be sparing with water, so he used kitchen paper as much as possible. Then he settled down to spend the night. While he had been busy with his initial tasks, he had not found time to grieve much. The desperation of his situation hit him very hard at this time, and he was filled with grief and depression, as he realised that he was probably the only living person for miles.

Despite the fact that he was a man and not supposed to show emotion, he couldn’t help himself and was sobbing well into the night. He had great difficulty getting to sleep despite being desperately tired. He suffered badly from the effects of a long hard day during which his life, and that of any other survivors, had changed dramatically and permanently.

During the small hours and in complete darkness, the driver was troubled by the strange feeling that he was not alone. He rose and took the torch he had left by the bed to search the house but found no one—not even any animals. He went back to bed, but was still uneasy.

The strange feeling persisted and he felt that he had missed something vital. His inability to sleep continued as did the impression that he was not alone, and he began to get really worried. In the end, he shouted, Oh God! What can I do?

Then he realised that he had not prayed as was his custom. He was a firm believer and prayed often when he was depressed and worried. On this occasion, the work he had carried out and the effects of shock and grief had caused him to forget.

He rectified his omission immediately, first asking God to forgive him for his negligence and then asking God to accept the souls of all those who had died into His eternal kingdom. He finished by asking God to enlighten him and help him with his future actions. He was rewarded by a feeling of peace which allowed him to sleep for the rest of the night, and indeed, well into the next morning.

Day Two

The driver gradually became aware that light was filtering under the door and after a moment or two, during which he remembered where he was and what had happened to him, he prayed, Dear God, thank you for letting me see another day. Please help me to face the future and help me to know what you want me to do. I only want to do your will.

He sat in the chair, trying to work out his next action. He decided to spend the next few hours after breakfast, taking in inventory of the contents of the house. He had already established that the waste from the toilet was working. Perhaps this was connected to a cess tank.

Anyway, the cistern had flushed once and drained away as normal. There was no freshwater to refill it, so he knew that this was going to be a great problem during the next few days. Some of the precious water from the central heating system would have to be used for this purpose.

Water must be preserved for the purposes of sanitation and personal hygiene only. All cooking must be done with the wine where appropriate and, of course, this was his sole source of liquid to drink apart from a few cans of lager and some bottles of soft drinks. When he worked out the food supplies, he found that, with care, he had enough to last him for three or four weeks. There was also a bottle of whiskey which he put aside, thinking that this might come in handy to help with fire lighting.

As the house was built of stone, the driver considered that he would probably be safe if he remained in the cellar apart from brief excursions to other parts of the building.

Up to that time, he had given no thought to the outside world, and he forced himself to look out of the upstairs windows. Nothing had changed from the day before. As far as he could see, the same depressing view was presented.

In reality, he could only see any distance on one direction only. This was because the house was situated on the side of a hill. Even this view was limited, as there were still large quantities of smoke rising from demolished buildings and from the countryside.

Before he started his exploration, he had prepared himself a reasonable breakfast. This was possible because he was forced to use those frozen and fresh food first before they deteriorated. He was fortunate that he had discovered the small picnic stove and spare gas cylinders. At least, he was able to cook the food he found.

Even so, the limitations of the stove gave him restrictions on the method of cooking. He could only fry or boil and decided that he would prepare some of the frozen meat to eat cold later. At least, by this method he could prolong the life of some of it for a couple of days, and then he would have to rely on tinned foods.

He had noticed earlier that there was a full range of camping equipment in the house, including a small two-man tent and typical utensils, together with a rucksack. One of the most important finds was a .22 air rifle in a case, together with some ammunition. The driver thought that this would be invaluable if he had to resort to hunting for his food.

He had already realised that he would not be able to rely on manmade foods for ever. His examination of the house had already told him that.

Another important find was one of the electronic gas lighters, the kind that worked without batteries, but induced a spark when a trigger was pressed in much the same way that a car ignition coil works. This simple and fairly small object enabled him to save his precious matches which were needed to light candles which he decided to use only for cooking and eating. This time he also used for reading in order to conserve the candles.

He spent the rest of the day in the very dim light of the cellar, the only light being that which penetrated through the open door. Because of this fact, he was unable to do any reading and could only spend the time reflecting on the position in which he found himself, and to try and determine what his future course of action was likely to be.

He began by thinking deeply about the events of the previous day, first the breakdown which had caused his vehicle to stop at the bottom of the dip in the road. The position of the final breakdown was such that it afforded him the best possible protection due to the contours of the ground. Secondly, he had been outside the vehicle and thus protected from the full force of the blast which had actually overturned the lorry. If he had still been seated in the cab, then he would certainly have been badly burnt and possibly seriously injured when the vehicle blew over.

The third stroke of coincidence was that the house in which he now found shelter was within easy walking distance. Another benefit was that the house provided him with all the necessary food for initial survival and for him to lead some sort of life in the future. All these things caused him to think about the nature of convenience.

He was forced to the conclusion that he was being protected. Why was he a survivor amongst so much death and destruction? If this was the case, then there was some purpose to his survival. It was, therefore, up to the driver to discover the reason why he had been protected.

He decided that this was all due to the will of God. Because of this, he spent much of his enforced idleness in prayer, seeking an answer.

After some hours of reflection, punctuated by periods of utter despair, he came to the conclusion that he was to stay where he was until the food ran out, and then he would have to leave and go where God directed him. What he was to do at that time was not revealed to him at this stage.

Day Three

The next day was spent in a similar way to the first, with meals cooked and eaten by candlelight, with some reading while the light was available. There was no change in the sky, still dark and with poor visibility, and in consequence, the cellar was almost dark when the candle was extinguished. The driver’s main worry was the shortage of water for washing and sanitation. There were still great difficulties with the cleaning of his cooking utensils.

When night came, he lay on the bed thinking and praying; obviously, any future life was going to be vastly different to his previous reasonably comfortable existence. In fact, he had already started his new life, although he had no idea what would happen to him. If he was to survive at all, he realised that he would be unable to manage without help.

Where was he to get help? At the present moment, he had no one to turn to except God. Now, as never before, he must put his trust in Him. His trust must be absolute. He decided that if he had been saved up to that point in time, there must be a reason. The thought suddenly came to him that perhaps, he was destined to help others.

Anyone left would be likely to be in a similar position and struggling for survival in a devastated world. There was likely to be fighting for food and shelter. Life in this new world was not going to be pleasant. If any lasting survival was to be possible, the only way ahead was to be by mutual co-operation.

Such co-operation with mutual pooling of available resources would need some sort of co-ordinator. The driver’s Christian background seemed to him to give the best chance of implementing such a policy. Not control!

There had been too much control of people’s lives by powerful church men in past history, a gentle guidance seemed to be more appropriate. It seemed to the driver that someone should try, by mild persuasion, to bring people to believe and trust in the Lord.

The thought came to the driver that there would be few Christian believers left in the world, judging by the general decline in attendance at Church services that he had noticed, the driver thought that now, there would be even less who would be willing to accept God’s protective umbrella.

He became more and more convinced that the task of bringing people together had fallen on his shoulders. This was likely to be a daunting task, but since he had already started a completely new life whereby everything had changed, he thought that nothing of his previous life had any relevance except for his belief in God.

Even his former name now had no significance. There was likely to be no one left who knew who he was. Further, if he was destined to spread the word of God’s love to those who were left, then he, as a layman, would have to find something to make people interested in him to start with.

It was at this point that he decided to change his name and take one that might well inspire conversation. How this decision came to him, he never knew. It seemed that it was a logical solution that he would have to take in order to arouse interest.

He was by nature a shy and reserved man who did not force his opinions on anyone, so if he was to spread the word of God’s love, then he would need a trigger to start a conversation. After much consideration, he decided that he would be known as Believer because that’s what he was, a believer.

When he had reached this conclusion, he prayed to ask God to guide his footsteps in the future and to help him find the words he would need to persuade people, that the ways of peace and love were the only ways for mankind to continue. He also prayed that God would give him the health and means to carry out the task he was now sure God had preserved him for.

Day Four

With the next dawn, Believer awoke and after thanking God for another day, he carried out his ablutions and preparations for breakfast in the manner he had established the day before. After which he spent the rest of his waking hours thinking a great deal about the practical side of his future life.

The major problems soon became apparent. One, of catching his food, the other of lighting fires to cook his meals. The air rifle he found during his first full day would help with providing food, but he only had a limited supply of ammunition.

It was obvious that one of his most important tasks was to devise a way of replenishing this. He could think of no immediate solution to this.

As to the food itself, he reasoned that if God had a mission for him, then surely, He would provide him with enough food to enable him to fulfil it. The same would apply to the ammunition for the air rifle, he would be given solutions to both problems.

Lighting a fire would require some careful thought on his part, but there was liable to be a good quantity of wood torn from buildings and from damaged trees. Believer thought that it should be possible to start a fire with the aid of the gas lighter he had found if he used this in conjunction with the spirit, and used tinder or paper carefully dried out from the day before.

He was still very concerned by the lack of water for the next few days, and he prayed that the weather would change soon from the dull and overcast skies still heavily affected with smoke and ashes. In short, he prayed for rain. He suspected that even rainwater would not be safe to use for the first few days and that he would have to delay its use.

Days Five, Six and Seven

The next three days passed in a similar way, by the end of which, Believer’s precious water supply was nearly exhausted. At this time, he felt dirty and unkempt. He had been unable to shave as the only razor available to him was an electric one, which was of course, no use to him at all.

He had now used as much of the frozen food he had found in the freezer as he dared. The rest he considered to be unsafe as there had been no means of keeping it fresh once it had thawed out.

Towards the end of the seventh day, Believer became aware of a gradual change in the sky. This darkened even more and a damp mist appeared. This turned to drizzle which during the night, slowly turned into a torrential downpour.

Day Eight

After a whole night and day of heavy rain, Believer felt that the fresh rainwater might be safe to use for washing, so he set to work catching as much as he could of the water pouring through the damaged roof. He filled the bath and any other receptacle he could spare.

The water fell in such volumes that within a short time, it reached the cellar where Believer had spent his first few days. Although there was a small drain in the floor, he thought that this would soon prove to be insufficient to keep his refuge dry, so he decided to move upstairs to the one bedroom unaffected by the flooding water.

He, therefore, spent some time in moving his precious belongings to this room, and was rewarded by his efforts in having more available light. Even so, to enable him to read, he had to sit with his back to the glassless window. He was fortunate that this window was facing away from the wind, and rainwater did not pour in as it did elsewhere in the house.

He now had an abundance of water but he decided to use it only for washing and cleaning. He still had wine and other bottled drinks for his internal consumption. He did not forget to thank God for his improving fortunes.

Day Nine

Throughout Believer’s ninth day, the rain continued to fall at the same rate, but he was able to take advantage of the abundance of water that he was now blessed with to take a bath. The bath, of course, was cold but nonetheless invigorating, and Believer felt much better for it.

After attending to his personal needs, Believer set about washing some of the clothes he had been wearing. He was fortunate that the man of the house was of a comparable size, and Believer had been able to change his clothes when necessary. Under the terrible circumstances he had found himself in, he considered himself lucky to have found this particular house in which to spend the first few days of this new life.

Days Ten to Twenty

The heavy rain continued with no sign of abatement day after day. As Believer had surmised, the cellar had flooded, so he was glad that he had decided to move to the upstairs room. However, it became more obvious that each move he made was dictated by events beyond his control, and bearing in mind that he believed that God had a purpose for him, it was apparent that he was being guided to make moves in accordance with God’s will.

With the increase of light available to him, Believer carried on making his plans for his eventual move away from the house and with the aid of a road map, he started to plot his future route.

What direction should he make for? He realised that he should avoid any towns and cities as these were most likely to be contaminated. Also, there would be less chance of finding survivors in the more densely populated areas. These were likely to have been the centre of the attacks, particularly as he suspected, that even the smaller towns had been devastated.

If anything lived in the larger cities at all, these were most likely to be rats from the sewers carrying their own source of infection. Any human survivors would probably be dying from diseases like cholera and typhoid and infection from burns. Many, probably all, would be seriously affected with radiation sickness for which Believer could do nothing.

Believer spent a great deal of time in prayer and in studying the atlas, and found that he was able to plot a route which avoided the centres of population and only connected country districts and smaller villages.

His route would be mainly north and later north west, eventually heading towards the Peak District which Believer considered to be the most likely area in which to find small pockets of survivors.

He also realised that even though he was still in the summer season, he would have to restrict his walking hours to about five hours a day as he would have to spend some time hunting for food, cooking and finding shelter. He did not know the state of the roads but suspected that there would be difficulty with floods and damaged bridges, which would all add time to the journey.

Day Twenty-One

The available food had almost run out. There was only a tin of corned beef and another of mixed vegetables which, with care, might last Believer a couple of days. From now on, it was a case of hunt or starve.

Believer counted his blessings and was thankful for the possession of the air rifle and its ammunition. There would be no chance of practice with the rifle as the quantity of ammunition was limited. As with everything else that was consumable, there must be no wastage.

Believer carefully packed the rucksack he had found with all the spare clothing he could carry, cooking utensils and some sharp knives, some soap and including some detergent powder for washing clothes. By the time he had finished, the rucksack was getting very full and he tied the small tent and a sleeping bag wrapped in a plastic tablecloth to the top. He tied some cooking pans to the side and tucked a hammer into one of the side pockets. The air rifle he decided to carry separately.

When he had completed his preparations, he made a last meal from the remains of tins he had opened the day before. Then he spent some time in prayer before finally leaving his refuge for the past three weeks. As a last act, he buried all the potato peelings in the highest part of the now sodden garden, knowing that they might well grow and